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MARK COLVIN: A top expert on the Great Barrier Reef says the agency given the job of protecting it no longer has a single member of staff working full-time on the effects of climate change.

The reason: budget cuts which have slashed 17 staff with five of its senior directors agreeing to take voluntary redundancies.

It's being described as the greatest loss of expertise from Australia's most important natural wonder and it comes at the very time the Great Barrier Reef is facing the greatest threat to its survival.

In interviews with the ABC, three of those recently departed directors have questioned the agency's decision making, described how morale at the internationally-acclaimed authority has plummeted, and warned that it's becoming ineffective at protecting the reef.

One industry group agrees, calling the loss of so much experience a disgrace, and warning that bureaucrats - not scientists - are making the big decisions.

Mark Willacy reports from Townsville.

MARK WILLACY: Adam Smith has a simple saying about the challenge of protecting the Great Barrier Reef...

ADAM SMITH: I like to say to people it's not rocket science. It's much more complicated than rocket science.

MARK WILLACY: Until recently, Adam Smith was a senior director at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority where, among other things, he was charged with dealing with the contentious Abbot Point coal terminal development and the proposal to dump three million cubic metres of dredge spoil into the marine park.

ADAM SMITH: Look, it was complicated on a number of levels. It wasn't just environmental. It was social, political, economic. There wasn't a clear plan, or if there was, it changed all the time.

MARK WILLACY: Despite Dr Smith's concerns, the sea dumping was approved by the marine park authority - although the Queensland Government is now in favour of dumping it on land.

But by this time Dr Smith had decided to accept a voluntary redundancy and move on.

ADAM SMITH: You often join an organisation for its leadership and its values, and you leave for similar reasons, and I had some robust discussions with some of my leaders and that was part of the factor in leaving, absolutely.

MARK WILLACY: Adam Smith is one of five senior directors of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority to take a redundancy since a restructure of the agency was announced.

Heritage conservation director Jon Day left after 21 years, disillusioned with the direction the authority was taking.

JON DAY: Well some of the recent decisions we've seen are clearly not the best decisions for the Great Barrier Reef. I think those decisions are being made on short-term economic reasons, rather than perhaps the long-term benefits for the Great Barrier Reef.

MARK WILLACY: Paul Marshall is another director who spoke to the ABC about his decision to take a redundancy. In his case, the climate change director returned after a long project in the Caribbean to find that funding for his key focus had run out, despite the fact the latest Federal Government outlook report into the reef lists climate change as the greatest risk to its survival.

PAUL MARSHALL: Sometimes we had eight to 10 people working on climate change. Now you can't point to one who is entirely focussed on climate change.

It used to be an exciting place to work. There was always a buzz around the floors and now people are just too busy to even look up and it's actually getting quite grim internally.

MARK WILLACY: The chairman of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Russell Reichelt says, despite the restructure, the agency still has a lot of talent.

But Dr Reichelt does acknowledge that the decision to allow dredge spoil dumping at sea at Abbot Point did cause disquiet.

RUSSELL REICHELT: Well I think people were disappointed with the Abbot Point decision inside the authority and a third of the staff felt strongly that we were not making the right decision.

MARK WILLACY: The departure of five directors and a dozen other staff comes at a crucial time for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Because next year UNESCO will decide whether to put the reef on its world heritage in danger list.

If that happens, the pressure on the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority will only continue to mount.

MARK COLVIN: Mark Willacy. And Mark's full report can be seen on Lateline tonight on ABC TV.